Re: [Videolib] videolib Digest, Vol 24, Issue 87

Gary raises important questions for distributors. Hosting and delivering
the content is actually not a big problem. 200,000 streams of a 90
minute film costs only $300 after set-up charges. The front-end or
portal is nothing more than the distributor's existing website, a
glorified catalog. Newsreel currently has three discrete websites and
we're planning more now that every film has its own; of course, we'll
keep the Newsreel portal and could lbe listed on other content
aggregation sites. Many different front-ends can use the same back-end
(order system/shopping cart) and the same server. The problem is
customizing or building-out the "back-end" from off-the-shelf CRM
solutions like SalesForce to accommodated the demands of institutional
markets.

Educational distributors, it seems to me, will need to at least some of
the following:

1. password-protected streaming or rental of individual titles
(individually priced)
2. password-prodected streaming or rental of discounted packages of
titles (individually priced)
3. password-protected streaming or rental of discounted, "cherry-picked"
bundles of title (priced according to titles selected)
4. vouchers for a fixed number of "rentals" for a title, package, bundle
or the entire collection
5. following the JSTOR model, different price points for each of the
above options, depending on type of institution
6. following the JSTOR model, different expiration dates for each
subscription
7. multiple length subscriptions
8. individual (student) digital rental
9. digital file purchase for reference/preservation purposes

And I'm sure readers of this list can think up a lot more. The
permutations are almost infinite (but so is the flexibility afforded the
client.) Thanks to computers, the transaction can be calculated, paid
and fulfilled almost instantaneously. But the computers need to be
programmed and there's the rub. It would obviously be to distributors'
advantage, if we collaborated on developing a standardized "back end."
We could also simply adopt some existing proprietary back-end solution
(if the proprietors would lease it or take a reasonable cut.) The fewer
the options, the lower the cost but nobody knows what options will
emerge as the most viable. The cheapest option of all is also the most
controversial: individual digital rental supplemented by library
reference DVD or file purchase.

I hope this helps concretize the dimension of the problems Gary has
raised. Fortunately, Newsreel is not feeling any pressure from our
clients to solve it tomorrow.

One fly in this particular ointment would seem to be on the tech end of
things. Who hosts this access? Who develops the portal/front-end? My
guess is that such stuff is practically out of reach for most indie
distributors...although the prospects of cost-effectively outsourcing
are getting better and better. The logistics of tracking licensing,
accounting, etc. is also rather daunting (for distributors).

The JSTOR model, is, nonetheless, sorta tantalizing... Again,
price-point is everything. JSTOR prices for such access really wouldn't
cut it...it'd have to be a model that makes sense in terms of the worth
of this type of service to the potential community of users on campuses.
Simply transferring current cost models to an online venue doesn't
really buy us much.

I'd be interested in hearing from the distributors out there.

Gary

> Note that what I suggested is not a one-stop shopping website with a
> cart, but bundled digital access (for viewing on campus only) to an
> entire catalogue of documentary films (or consortium of catalogues),
> for research libraries & universities. No tiered pricing, though. The
> bundles could vary in price based on the needs of the
> institution--limitless access to everything for the big ones, and
> bundles addressing a special interest (classic anthropology films,
> race in America, women's studies films, agriculture in the 2000s, arts

> and music, etc) for smaller schools with strong programs in particular

> fields. I gather JSTOR offers bundles like this.
>
> These would be specifically NOT films that would have much commercial
> appeal. In this way, on the one hand, the catalogues would have a
> regular income (with libraries possibly spending more than they did
> before, because they are getting more, and because digitized material
> is more likely to be in the budget) and the stronger films would help
> carry the weaker ones, so to speak, so that they would be available to

> many more people than those whose institutions purchase a copy. The
> film that only 3 people in 10 years want to view would be available
for them.
> Documentaries that might not have been worth peddling before can reach

> their audiences as part of a bundle.
>
> My thought runs like this: let's say there are 1000 professors in the
> US who might be really interested in the Bolivian lesbian
> basketweaving commune Jessica has posited.Only 500 of them even know
> that a documentary on the subject exists. Only 100 of them have talked

> their institutions into buying copies of the documentary on this
> topic, and an additional 100 have seen it using interlibrary loan. (No

> idea what the numbers are actually like). The company that offers it
> considers dropping it from its catalogue.
> Now this documentary is offered as part of bundles on Latin American
> commerce, women's and gender studies, and the arts, or as part of a
> comprehensive bundle. The institutions of 800 of the 1000 professors
> buy into one of these bundles, and the librarians point the film out
> to the professors who might be interested. It starts being used in
> their classes and cited in their articles, so all 1000 professors plus

> a lot of students become aware of it. The other 200 universities
> obtain either hard copies or access via the streaming service.
> The person who made the documentary uses this interest to win a grant
> to make a sequel ("Bolivian lesbian basketweaving ten years later"),
> is invited to lecture at some of the universities and at plenary
> sections of conferences, and eventually is hired in a women's studies
> department to teach feminist documentary film-making.
>
> Amazon would not be suitable for this. I think the place to look might

> in fact be JSTOR or some entrepreneur who understands both video
> streaming and university needs and budgets. Because of the nature of
> the material, it might even be possible to get a grant to set up the
servers.
>
> I will be glad to accept any commission offered...
>
> Judy
>
> ________________________________________
> From: videolib-bounces@lists.berkeley.edu
> [videolib-bounces@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Lawrence Daressa
> [LD@newsreel.org] Dear Judy,
>
> You should get a commission for suggesting so many sensible models
> which could make speciality film and video available digitally in
> forms students, libraries, distributors and producers could all
> accept. Your post illustrates what's possible when people think about
> new media not simply as replicating legacy technology but as offering
> expanded options. The server space is out there (and is incredibly
> cheap.) Many small distributors are currently working on locate or
> build-out the software to deliver password protected digital rentals
> and passkey protected courseware. The small, speciality distributors
> have been talking about setting up a single, shared fulfillment house
> and shopping cart (one stop shopping) for decades; let's hope digital
> will make this a reality. (Unhappily, Amazon isn't the answer; they
> extort 50% of each digital rental and sale and insist on setting our
> prices.) Thanks for taking the time to think about this problem so
creatively.
>
> Larry
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation,
> acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current
> and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It
> is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for
> video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between
> libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and
distributors.
>

A service like this is in the works, although its focus is on primary
source archival audio and moving image content held in archives rather
than on published works. Individual documentary makers and video/sound
artists can also provide access to their content through the Library. A
few distributors were interviewed while the business plan was being
researched and written last year. One said that they might consider
doing educational sales through AVAN (libraries/faculty can download and
burn a high res file to DVD for a fee that is returned to the
distributor, while within the subscription site a lower res file would
be streamed), so the system is being built with that function enabled.

The service is called "Audiovisual Archive Network," or AVAN for short.
It's a nonprofit organization that provides both an aggregated library
(with public and subscription sites), and a digital preservation
service. The educational subscription site will offer bundled packages a
la the JSTOR model at tiered rates, depending on organizational type,
size, and budget.
There are also individual subscriptions for unaffiliated researchers
(including footage researchers).

Documentary makers can use the site to provide access to their outtakes,
with links to locations where their published works can be obtained if
they choose to not put the entire work online (and also links to where
their outtakes can be licensed).

You can read about the project here: www.archivenetwork.org

Right now we're fundraising to build the prototype, which will be
reviewed and tested by a mix of faculty, librarians, and researchers.
Hopefully it will get started in March/April 2010, with the preservation
service launched summer 2011 and the library in late 2011-mid 2012.

Any input on how AVAN can be built to help you and your users is very
much welcome.

> Note that what I suggested is not a one-stop shopping website with a
cart,
> but bundled digital access (for viewing on campus only) to an entire
> catalogue of documentary films (or consortium of catalogues), for
research
> libraries & universities. No tiered pricing, though. The bundles could

> vary in price based on the needs of the institution--limitless access
to
> everything for the big ones, and bundles addressing a special interest

> (classic anthropology films, race in America, women's studies films,
> agriculture in the 2000s, arts and music, etc) for smaller schools
with
> strong programs in particular fields. I gather JSTOR offers bundles
like
> this.
>
> These would be specifically NOT films that would have much commercial
> appeal. In this way, on the one hand, the catalogues would have a
regular
> income (with libraries possibly spending more than they did before,
> because they are getting more, and because digitized material is more
> likely to be in the budget) and the stronger films would help carry
the
> weaker ones, so to speak, so that they would be available to many more

> people than those whose institutions purchase a copy. The film that
only 3
> people in 10 years want to view would be available for them.
> Documentaries that might not have been worth peddling before can reach

> their audiences as part of a bundle.
>
> My thought runs like this: let's say there are 1000 professors in the
US
> who might be really interested in the Bolivian lesbian basketweaving
> commune Jessica has posited.Only 500 of them even know that a
documentary
> on the subject exists. Only 100 of them have talked their institutions

> into buying copies of the documentary on this topic, and an additional
100
> have seen it using interlibrary loan. (No idea what the numbers are
> actually like). The company that offers it considers dropping it from
its
> catalogue.
> Now this documentary is offered as part of bundles on Latin American
> commerce, women's and gender studies, and the arts, or as part of a
> comprehensive bundle. The institutions of 800 of the 1000 professors
buy
> into one of these bundles, and the librarians point the film out to
the
> professors who might be interested. It starts being used in their
classes
> and cited in their articles, so all 1000 professors plus a lot of
students
> become aware of it. The other 200 universities obtain either hard
copies
> or access via the streaming service.
> The person who made the documentary uses this interest to win a grant
to
> make a sequel ("Bolivian lesbian basketweaving ten years later"), is
> invited to lecture at some of the universities and at plenary sections
of
> conferences, and eventually is hired in a women's studies department
to
> teach feminist documentary film-making.
>
> Amazon would not be suitable for this. I think the place to look might
in
> fact be JSTOR or some entrepreneur who understands both video
streaming
> and university needs and budgets. Because of the nature of the
material,
> it might even be possible to get a grant to set up the servers.
>
> I will be glad to accept any commission offered...
>
> Judy
>
> ________________________________________
> From: videolib-bounces@lists.berkeley.edu
> [videolib-bounces@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Lawrence Daressa
> [LD@newsreel.org]
> Dear Judy,
>
> You should get a commission for suggesting so many sensible models
which
> could make speciality film and video available digitally in forms
> students, libraries, distributors and producers could all accept. Your
> post illustrates what's possible when people think about new media not
> simply as replicating legacy technology but as offering expanded
> options. The server space is out there (and is incredibly cheap.) Many
> small distributors are currently working on locate or build-out the
> software to deliver password protected digital rentals and passkey
> protected courseware. The small, speciality distributors have been
> talking about setting up a single, shared fulfillment house and
shopping
> cart (one stop shopping) for decades; let's hope digital will make
this
> a reality. (Unhappily, Amazon isn't the answer; they extort 50% of
each
> digital rental and sale and insist on setting our prices.) Thanks for
> taking the time to think about this problem so creatively.
>
> Larry
> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
> issues relating to the selection, evaluation,
acquisition,bibliographic
> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats
in
> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will
serve
> as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a
channel of
> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
> producers and distributors.

VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve
as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel
of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
producers and distributors.

VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
Received on Mon Nov 16 14:08:43 2009